INSTRUCTIONS TO ENUMERATORS

In order to make the census as complete as possible, enumerators were provided with several kinds of schedules, not reproduced here, for use in obtaining information about nonresidents who might not be reported at their homes, transients, new occupants of then-vacant living quarters, absent households, etc. A "household" was defined in terms of "one set of cooking facilities or housekeeping arrangements.

With regard to race, the only change from 1930 was that Mexicans were to be listed as White unless they were definitely Indian or some race other than White.

There were detailed rules for completing the employment portion of the schedule (cols. 21-31) and for coding column 30 on the basis of the occupation entered in column 28.

Veteran status (col. 39) was extended to peacetime service as well as during wars and expeditions.

Enumerators carried a supply of a separate report form, P-16, reproduced at the right, which persons unwilling to give income information verbally could use. The completed form was to be inserted in an accompanying envelope, sealed, and given to the census taker for mailing.

It should be noted that questions 35 through 50 were asked only of a 5-percent sample of the population.

CENSUS REPORT-CONFIDENTIAL.-Your report is required by Act of Congress. This Act makes it unlawful for the Bureau to disclose any facts, including names or identity, from your census reports. Only sworn census employees will see your statements. Data collected will be used solely for preparing statistical information concerning the Nation's population, resources, and business activities. Your Census Reports Cannot Be Used for Purposer of Taxation, Regulation, or Investigation.

Form P-16

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

BUREAU OF THE CENSUS

Sixteenth Decennial Census of the United
States: 1940

CONFIDENTIAL REPORT ON WAGE OR SALARY
INCOME, 1939

To be used by those who are unwilling to give to the census enumerator the answers to questions 32 and 33

This blank will make it possible for you to furnish the answers to the questions relating to wage income in 1939 directly to the Director of the Census in Washington. When you have filled out this blank, place it in the envelope provided by the enumerator, seal the envelope, and return it to him for mailing.

The amount of wages and salary received during the year 1939 by the American people is the best possible measure of employment and unemployment, including partial or irregular employment, during the year. Your cooperation in answering these questions will thus help to provide facts on unemployment, which is one of the most pressing national problems of the day.

Your Signature Is Not Required

32. What was the total amount of

wages or salary (including
commissions) you received in
cash (or by check or draft),
as an employee, during the
entire year 1939?

If your wages or salary for the year were more than $5,000, write "over $5,000." Include only money received for work as an employee in private industry or for the Government, including work on public emergency projects (WPA, NYA, CCC, etc.). Do NOT include business profits. professional fees, receipts from sale of farm products, interest, dividends, rents, income from boarders and lodgers, pensions, or other income other than wages or salary in cash.

33. Did you have income amounting to $50 or (Check more from sources other than wages or one) salary received in cash (or by check or Yes draft) during the year 1939?

No

Do NOT write the amount you received. Check "Yes" if you received $50 or more during the year 1939 from any one (or any combination) of the following: Business profits, professional fees, receipts from sale of farm products, boarders or lodgers, pensions, rents, dividends, interest, relief, income in kind. or any other source other than wages or salary in cash (or by check or draft). Income in kind is the value of room, board, or supplies received in payment for services. Check "No" if you received less than $50 from sources other than wages or salary in cash.

INSTRUCTIONS TO ENUMERATORS

The term "structure" was roughly comparable with "dwelling house" used in previous censuses, and 1940 "occupied dwelling units" could be equated with "homes" in 1930. The 1940 housing census, however, included vacant, habitable dwelling units and structures. It excluded units occupied by quasi households (defined as 10 or more lodgers) and various types of institutional and other places (later called "group quarters") not generally considered as part of the U.S. housing market. The dwelling unit itself was defined as "the living

quarters occupied by, or intended for occupancy by, one household."

The instructions for answering the questions on the occupied and vacant dwelling schedules were fairly simple, and in many cases were spelled out on the forms themselves. Item 11 (state of repair) required the enumerator to report the structure as "needing major repairs" when parts of it, such as floors, roof, walls, or foundations required repair or replacement, "the continued neglect of which would impair the soundness of the structure and create a hazard to its safety as a place of residence."